I'm taking off work early, going to see a matinee showing of Hunger Games, then pick up a new (used) computer desk. Then I'm moving my computer station out of the basement. I'm doing some major room rearranging while the hubby is out of town.

Speaking of the hubby - he turns fifty tomorrow. I don't get to celebrate with him.

Snow's all gone at my house so I might be able to start in on some yard work.

Been a busy few weeks at work. I'm mostly interested in relaxing this weekend, and resting my sore back (I officially hate dead-lifting). We'll see Hunger Games, probably on Sunday, for the fiance (I can't say I'm really interested, but I'm sure it'll be decent). Other than that, hanging with friends, and getting in some much needed face time w/ the significant other. We've barely seen each other the last two weeks.

I'd like to get an article put together, but it's been tough to think of subjects that'll garner interest until this Mass Effect hubbub dies down.

On a side note, I'm officially going to E3 now. Flights' & hotel are booked and everything. I'm super-psyched. Does anyone have a developer or member of the gaming media that they'd like me to sucker punch for a low cost?

I don't think I'm doing anything, though I might be. Maybe I'll get to cutting up and splitting the other half of the tree I felled over the winter. Along with rotating the rest of the firewood, though it'll get rained on in the next week, likely.

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publiusvarus wrote:

we all know liberals are well adjusted american citizens who only want what's best for society. While conservatives are evil money grubbing scum who only want to sh*t on the little man and rob the world of its resources.

Mostly homework, yay! Trying to stay positive about it, but so far it's been mostly pre-requisite classes where I'm not really learning anything new. Well, about a month left then I have yet another leadership class (boring) and then a software class. I'm actually looking forward to that one.

I also have to clear out for a couple showings of the condo tomorrow, with any luck I'll get an offer on it soon.

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Some people are like slinkies, they aren't really good for anything, but they still bring a smile to your face when you push them down the stairs.

My roses i ordered back in February finally arrived, so i'll likely be digging holes and other assorted outdoors type activities this weekend, also potentially finishing up the landscaping inside the new fence, which is now done (for now anyways, until I get more money to spend on the rest of it. At least the damned neighbordogs have quieted down finally with it in. I also get to rebuild a portion of the filtration system in the aquarium to accomodate a new UV steralizer that should work better than the previous one at killing green algae in the water.

My other project for the weekend is starting my new computer case build. I'm gearing up for a socket 2011 processor, and my existing water cooling setup isn't going to cut it between that and the 580 GTX (or two), so I need to go bigger. I snagged the last known Cooler Master ACTS 840 case in existance aside from one over in germany, and a Koolance RP-1200 pump unit. Between that, a triple radiator ont he top dual 230MM fans, and a single 120MM radiator on the back fan, i should be able to take a socket 2011 processor up quite a ways. This will be a fairly long term build though, as I'll need some parts along the way, plus the CNC mill project will take some of the funding, but it should look really cool when its done. Quick disconnect fittings on all the main components, Cooling blocks on the motherboard and ram, the works. I'll take some pictures of it eventually.

Tomorrow I plan to go to an Urgent Care place nearby to see if the searing pain on my back and side is, indeed, Shingles like I fear it may be.

Got a nasty rash?

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publiusvarus wrote:

we all know liberals are well adjusted american citizens who only want what's best for society. While conservatives are evil money grubbing scum who only want to sh*t on the little man and rob the world of its resources.

I'm ever so slightly tempted to reinstall EQ -- not because I miss EQ but just to experience playing it on a modern system. I remember starting that game on some ancient K6-2 back in the day and spending three minutes zoning.

Yeah, I got shingles across the back of my ribs just before my first son was born. Probably stress-induced.

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publiusvarus wrote:

we all know liberals are well adjusted american citizens who only want what's best for society. While conservatives are evil money grubbing scum who only want to sh*t on the little man and rob the world of its resources.

I'm ever so slightly tempted to reinstall EQ -- not because I miss EQ but just to experience playing it on a modern system. I remember starting that game on some ancient K6-2 back in the day and spending three minutes zoning

Do it! I can't see playing it long term, but it was a hoot running around the tutorial on the new server. At one point late last night there was over 100 people in the zone, it was like PC in the old days. Although, be forewarned, even on my relatively new system the graphics are still painfully cringe worthy. I can't believe how many countless hours I spent staring @ them. Rose colored glasses indeed!

I think I overdid the yardwork thing. I went over and weeded most of my parents house too on sunday after putting in a full day saturday. Now i think my back is going to fall out or something horrible to contemplate.

I think I overdid the yardwork thing. I went over and weeded most of my parents house too on sunday after putting in a full day saturday. Now i think my back is going to fall out or something horrible to contemplate.

Do some yoga. My back loves when I do some basic core yoga.

Moving the computer station turned out to be more work than anticipated (don't these projects always do that). I decided my $8 desk need a paint job. I really wanted to paint it a nice medium pink but didn't want to put on 5 coats of paint to cover the original black. So it's still black.

Once most all components were dusted off and dusted out, moved and reconnected I turned everything on. Turns out the internet connection in this room was never hooked up. So I had no internet. I attempt to tap into the wifi, but have no wifi card in my computer. I had to go buy a card - at Best Buy - GOD they're expensive!

My plans for sitting at my new work-station were to simply take the arms off my existing chair to fit under the new, smaller desk, but I realized as I approached my chair with a *****-driver that the arms were the only thing holding the back on.

So, I was up and running a played a bit of Skyrim before bed last night but I still need a chair fix. I like my chair.

I think I overdid the yardwork thing. I went over and weeded most of my parents house too on sunday after putting in a full day saturday. Now i think my back is going to fall out or something horrible to contemplate.

I overdid it yesterday, too. Cut up part of the tree that I felled over the winter into roughly two-foot sections, then split those in half and stacked to dry. Did maybe half a cord that way, but nearing the bottom of the tree, those two-foot sections weighed about eighty pounds apiece. My back is moderately fucked today.

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publiusvarus wrote:

we all know liberals are well adjusted american citizens who only want what's best for society. While conservatives are evil money grubbing scum who only want to sh*t on the little man and rob the world of its resources.

Once most all components were dusted off and dusted out, moved and reconnected I turned everything on. Turns out the internet connection in this room was never hooked up. So I had no internet. I attempt to tap into the wifi, but have no wifi card in my computer. I had to go buy a card - at Best Buy - GOD they're expensive!

You know they make these things called network cables. They're relatively cheap and cable-like and can even be run through walls and such!

Yes. That's my contribution to home networking. Drill a hole in the wall (or two!).

Not everyone is comfortable with running CAT5 through conduits, dude. Or are you suggesting just punching holes in walls and floors like some ghetto renovator?

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publiusvarus wrote:

we all know liberals are well adjusted american citizens who only want what's best for society. While conservatives are evil money grubbing scum who only want to sh*t on the little man and rob the world of its resources.

Not everyone is comfortable with running CAT5 through conduits, dude. Or are you suggesting just punching holes in walls and floors like some ghetto renovator?

Depending on your definition of "punching", yes. Obviously, it depends on the relative position of the room to others with the needed cabling and/or access via basement/attic, but there are some pretty cheap and easy methods to run cable through a house. And there are some generic cabling wall plates that are specifically designed to allow you to do this without it looking like you just punched a hole in a wall.

You also don't need to do the bare wire bundles in conduit route either. I suppose if you want a totally professional look, you can do that (and get plates with RJ-45 sockets as well, patch panels, etc), but you can just route regular old network cables if you want. What do you think people do with TV cables? It's just wire run through the wall/ceiling/floor and pushed out through a plate over a hole in the wall. There's nothing magical about it and it's not even that hard (in most home layouts).

we all know liberals are well adjusted american citizens who only want what's best for society. While conservatives are evil money grubbing scum who only want to sh*t on the little man and rob the world of its resources.

Cat5 doesn't need to be ran through conduits. It's low voltage, it doesn't even need a proper box to put the connection in. They sell very easy to use low voltage cutouts. Just cut a square through your wall board (sheet rock, plaster, paneling what ever) and insert the device, it has two swinging clamps that swing behind your wall board and fasten it to the wall. Then the Cat5 recep snaps into the coverplate, which screws into place on the cutout. Looks the same as a single gang recep in the end, without having to fasten anything behind the wall. Obviously not legal to use for your power outlets, but for things like Data and Video/Audio they are perfectly legal, and very easy to use.

I just drilled a hole through the wall and ran it through because I'm ghetto. At least the desk the modem/router is on is opposite of the other computer/Wii on the other side of the wall so it's not visible from either end. And everything has happy wired connections, only the wife's netbook, my kid's Xbox360 and my tablet are free roaming off the wifi. Well, and the smart phones, I guess.

Once most all components were dusted off and dusted out, moved and reconnected I turned everything on. Turns out the internet connection in this room was never hooked up. So I had no internet. I attempt to tap into the wifi, but have no wifi card in my computer. I had to go buy a card - at Best Buy - GOD they're expensive!

You know they make these things called network cables. They're relatively cheap and cable-like and can even be run through walls and such!

Yes. That's my contribution to home networking. Drill a hole in the wall (or two!).

I have this cable that is like 40ft long. We use it when the kids are visiting so they can hook up. I means a blue cord running along the floor of my whole house. Still that cord would only reach me as far as my sons room. I unhooked his computer and plugged mine in (this was initially a test to see if the data-jack in the room I was in was live or not). He came home and decided this wasn't' even a good temporary solution to my problem.

At any rate, when my husband gets home he can go down and hook the data-jack into the system. I can then return the wireless card if I'd like. I think though, that I like the wireless. Our cable goes through the Vonage box. Sometime this slows things down. Sometimes it actually holds things up. The wireless doesn't have this problem and so far has worked swimmingly.

I abhor most computer chairs. I'm a larger person, 6'4" and somewhere north of 300 lbs, and it is **** near impossible to find a computer chair that will support me, be comfortable, and fit under my desk. All of the chairs that are strong enough tend to be uncomfortable, while the ones that are comfortable are so flimsy I'm afraid they'll collapse under me the first time I sit down.

I abhor most computer chairs. I'm a larger person, 6'4" and somewhere north of 300 lbs, and it is **** near impossible to find a computer chair that will support me, be comfortable, and fit under my desk. All of the chairs that are strong enough tend to be uncomfortable, while the ones that are comfortable are so flimsy I'm afraid they'll collapse under me the first time I sit down.

Kao is like 9feet tall. Bet he has some good suggestions on computer chairs.

I just drilled a hole through the wall and ran it through because I'm ghetto.

Same thing I did in my house. You can do the fancy-shmancy stuff Tirith spoke of as well. Like I said earlier, there's a whole variety of plates you can use, but since we're not talking about power lines, you don't need a whole box-n-conduit setup. Wall plates are purely for looks in this case. A friend of mine recently did a couple rooms in his house (he's got a convenient attic, so it's really easy). He used these plates that have a decent sized square hole with brush-like stuff on top and bottom. They're designed for a whole set of cables and he used them all over the place. In one instance, he used two of them on the same wall just for routing the AV cables from the wall mounted flat screen tv down the wall to the cabinet under the tv with the cable box, Blu-ray, etc. That way, there's no ugly cables visible.

At the end of the day though, you are just punching holes in walls and running end use cable through them. Nothing wrong or "ghetto" about that IMO.

Cat5 doesn't need to be ran through conduits. It's low voltage, it doesn't even need a proper box to put the connection in. They sell very easy to use low voltage cutouts. Just cut a square through your wall board (sheet rock, plaster, paneling what ever) and insert the device, it has two swinging clamps that swing behind your wall board and fasten it to the wall. Then the Cat5 recep snaps into the coverplate, which screws into place on the cutout. Looks the same as a single gang recep in the end, without having to fasten anything behind the wall. Obviously not legal to use for your power outlets, but for things like Data and Video/Audio they are perfectly legal, and very easy to use.

I guess I'm just used to doing wiring at my old job. We wired a few brand-new restaurants, with all-new wiring and such, and used conduits for all the cabling. Don't get me wrong; I've drilled my fair share of holes in the floors of my parents' house (10base2 with BNC needs big holes) and strung cabling across the basement ceiling...but it wasn't exactly received favorably.

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publiusvarus wrote:

we all know liberals are well adjusted american citizens who only want what's best for society. While conservatives are evil money grubbing scum who only want to sh*t on the little man and rob the world of its resources.

I abhor most computer chairs. I'm a larger person, 6'4" and somewhere north of 300 lbs, and it is **** near impossible to find a computer chair that will support me, be comfortable, and fit under my desk. All of the chairs that are strong enough tend to be uncomfortable, while the ones that are comfortable are so flimsy I'm afraid they'll collapse under me the first time I sit down.

Kao is like 9feet tall. Bet he has some good suggestions on computer chairs.

At other work, I have a monsterous maroon purple chair of doom thats built like a tank. I have no idea who made that one though.

You make it sound like the chair of an evil genius. Does it have armrests wide enough to have a cat lay on them?

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Theophany wrote:YOU'RE AN ELITIST @#%^ AETHIEN, NO WONDER YOU HAVE NO FRIENDS AND PEOPLE HATE YOU. someproteinguy wrote:Aethien you take more terrible pictures than a Japanese tourist. Astarin wrote:One day, Maz, you'll learn not to click on anything Aeth links.

At other work, I have a monsterous maroon purple chair of doom thats built like a tank. I have no idea who made that one though.

You make it sound like the chair of an evil genius. Does it have armrests wide enough to have a cat lay on them?

At least one cat, maybe two skinny cats. The thing is seriously overkill, even for me. It's like a small couch with wheels. I have to be careful when I back it away from the desk when I stand up so it doesn't go through the adjacent wall on its own inertia.

I abhor most computer chairs. I'm a larger person, 6'4" and somewhere north of 300 lbs, and it is **** near impossible to find a computer chair that will support me, be comfortable, and fit under my desk. All of the chairs that are strong enough tend to be uncomfortable, while the ones that are comfortable are so flimsy I'm afraid they'll collapse under me the first time I sit down.

Kao is like 9feet tall. Bet he has some good suggestions on computer chairs.

At other work, I have a monsterous maroon purple chair of doom thats built like a tank. I have no idea who made that one though.

You make it sound like the chair of an evil genius. Does it have armrests wide enough to have a cat lay on them?

At least one cat, maybe two skinny cats. The thing is seriously overkill, even for me. It's like a small couch with wheels. I have to be careful when I back it away from the desk when I stand up so it doesn't go through the adjacent wall on its own inertia.

I want that chair. I'll sit in it and pet my cat while pondering my plans for world domination. It's perfect!

(Also, I require pics of said chair)

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Theophany wrote:YOU'RE AN ELITIST @#%^ AETHIEN, NO WONDER YOU HAVE NO FRIENDS AND PEOPLE HATE YOU. someproteinguy wrote:Aethien you take more terrible pictures than a Japanese tourist. Astarin wrote:One day, Maz, you'll learn not to click on anything Aeth links.

At other work, I have a monsterous maroon purple chair of doom thats built like a tank. I have no idea who made that one though.

You make it sound like the chair of an evil genius. Does it have armrests wide enough to have a cat lay on them?

At least one cat, maybe two skinny cats. The thing is seriously overkill, even for me. It's like a small couch with wheels. I have to be careful when I back it away from the desk when I stand up so it doesn't go through the adjacent wall on its own inertia.

I want that chair. I'll sit in it and pet my cat while pondering my plans for world domination. It's perfect!

(Also, I require pics of said chair)

Will you also end every episode day by letting Gadget know you'll get him next time. Next time!